Knicks vs. Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton’s flawless Game 4 showed exactly

INDIANAPOLIS — Rick Carlisle walked into his press conference after Game 4 understanding that he was going to be asked about the masterpiece that his virtuoso point guard had just unleashed upon the Knicks: a 32-point, 12-rebound, 15-assist, zero-turnover triple-double to propel his Pacers to a 130-121 win, and to within one win of the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years.

But that didn’t mean Indiana’s head coach had to like it.

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“I know Ty did some historic stat stuff tonight, and that’s great,” Carlisle said after Game 4. “But it’s tough talking stats when it’s such a team thing right now.”

Heard, Coach. So, here are some stats you might like better:

• In the course of an 11-plus minute podium session with reporters — an interview that spanned nearly 2,000 words, the primary topic of which was playing the game of his life to get his team within one win of a chance to play for an NBA championship — Haliburton used the word “we” 28 times, the word “our” five times, the phrase “as a group” six times, and the phrase “play the right way” five times.

• He said “It’s about winning” twice, “I just want to impact winning” once, and “How can I impact winning?” once, bringing us to four discrete instances of emphasizing how much he wants to win.

• He gave a 52-second, 189-word answer in praise of Bennedict Mathurin, who bounced back from a rough start to the series by exploding for 20 points in 13 minutes off the bench, helping Indiana expand its lead with his physical drives to the basket and the free throws they generated.

• He almost said that it was more exciting to see Triple H in Gainbridge Fieldhouse than it was to see his dad back in the building — but he stopped short. Chalk up another possession successfully concluded without an unforced error.

“Look, Tyrese is a great player, and people realize that,” Carlisle said. “He happens to do some very impressive statistical things. But he’s…